The Deserter: Book 2
by KesseGirl1
Summary: AU. In this thrilling sequel to it's original prequel, join the continuous journey of Anakin Skywalker, who has gone through a lot on in the past couple of months. He'll have to work hard to get back up on his feet...literally. (Anakin/Padme), (Obi-Wan/Satine), (Lux/Ahsoka) and some possible (OC/OC) HIATUS
1. Prologue

_The Deserter: Book 2_

**First things first, I want to wish EVERYONE a very merry Christmas! This is my present to those out there who had read the prequel to this. The prologue of the sequel! Also the fact that I will not be waiting until next November to start this book. I can't tell you when you will be able to expect chapters so they'll come when they come. **

**Enjoy! :D**

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><p><strong>~Prologue~<strong>

As Ahsoka sat crisscrossed by the murky water, all she felt was peace...and the small presence of anxiousness coming from the figures not too far from her. Her so called "co-pilot" that Captain Ackbar had made her take, was annoying as all get out. Roy Gladys could very likely have been the worst person in the galaxy that had been chosen. Out of every one of the pilots, Mr. Gladys happened to be the only one available to help her. But her real annoyance came from the bickering that he and Lux had been doing all morning over where they thought that Ahsoka and Yoda couldn't hear them. She was about to open her eyes and reprimand the two when Yoda spoke quietly to her, meditating also.

"Their debate, bother you, it does?" the little green master asked. She remained calm, releasing any and all emotion into the Force.

"I'm trying to not let it, Master," she said while releasing a deep breath.

"Answer my question, you did not."

The young Togruta nearly sighed in frustration. This wasn't helping things at all. If she was trying to block out the nearby bickering, wasn't this conversation a distraction too? She opened her eyes, unable to concentrate anymore, "Fine, yes it does, Master. It makes it hard to concentrate," she rested her elbow on her crossed knee and then her head on her hand, "It's...frustrating."

"Antidote to anxiety, concentration is," the little green master opened his eyes and smiled at Ahsoka, "Find them something to concentrate on, you should, hmm?"

That got the young Togruta thinking.

It didn't take very long to come up with a small plan of action. Yoda told the bickering boys that they needed to find him a special vine in the forest, along with a few other items: a white plant; a green snake; and a dark blue turtle. But they were not to come back without at least the vine. They went because of their respect for Master Yoda. But the Jedi was just sending them on a wild bantha chase because only one out of four of those things even existed on Dagobah.

"That will take them a long time...hopefully," she said and then turned to Yoda, "Shall we continue our meditation, Master?" he shocked her by shaking his head. He forced his walking stick to his persona and then stood up. She frowned, "I thought that was why we sent the other's off, so that we could concentrate better."

"Sent them away, we did, so alarmed they would not be when our friend arrives," the old master shuffled past Ahsoka and looked up through the dense foliage. The Togruta frowned and looked up also when the sound of a whirring engine alerted her. A shadow past over the tall trees, creating a sort of blanket. The wind from a small and beat up starship cut through the foliage and lowered itself into the swamp. The engines were cut and the whirring slowed until it was nothing. Ahsoka looked on as the ramp lowered, letting a single soul out. Ahsoka's shock was nothing compared to their visitor's.

"Ahsoka?" the visitor said aloud. The Togruta beside Yoda glared at the one person she hoped she would never have to see again.

Through her clenched teeth, Ahsoka grit out one word- a name, "Bariss."

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><p><strong>I know, I know, this is WAY too short to be even qualified as a chapter. But, I would like to remind you that this is a PROLOGUE. It's supposed to be short. I do expect to get some flames for the shortness so I would just like to put this out there that I KNOW that it's short and I meant for it to be that way. I'm only meaning to give you guys a short snippet of the story, and this is it. <strong>

**And that cliffhanger...I want to hear what you guys are thinking right now. Honestly, the credit for it goes to my brother who is a complete GENIUS for coming up with it. It's probably killing you guys to not know more. ;D**

**Please review down below because I would love to hear your thoughts and wishes for this book because I have absolutely NO plotline for this. I need something because otherwise update times are just going to be so irregular. **

**Till then,**

**KG1!~**


	2. Chapter 1

_The Deserter: Book 2_

**~Chapter 1~**

_Refugee Transport,_

_In orbit over Esamer  
>-<em>

It was almost annoying how depressing the atmosphere was inside the transport. The masses of sick and smelly people cluttered together in one confined area was almost enough to make Ben sick. But, he had been on enough of these ventures to be partially used to it. As a Jedi, he had been sent on many undercover assignments with his old master, Qui-Gonn, such as that time on Nporia when they were disguised as beggars. Ben even had to wear an eyepatch just to sell the act. This time it wasn't much different. The only problem this time was that he had a wife and two children to take care of.

They weren't his children, out right anyway. He and Satine had decided to raise her brother's daughters since he had been killed some months back in a Tusken raid. The man's son, Korkie Kryze, had also been killed on their escape off of Kashyyyk by Trandoshan slavers. Ben wasn't entirely assured that Satine was completely at peace with her brother and nephew's passing. But, he supposed, the hurt would only get better with time. For now, they had to focus on settling on their new home world Esamer, raising the girls, and hiding out from the Empire.

This new life was something Ben was going to have to find a way to get used to. A normal life had never been a possibility with his life as a Jedi, and even getting married was out of the question back then. But with the destruction of the order, and the rise of the Empire, circumstances had changed and what had once thought to be impossible, had become possible. Ben wasn't happy that the Empire was there, of course not, but until the time was right he was entirely content with just living with it.

He sat there, up against a wall. Satine slept on his shoulder and in each their laps they held a child. Jénor was hardly a year old so it was best that Satine hold her, while the four year old girl Ami slept in Ben's lap. Both of the children were curious girls, wide eyed and bright too. Both carried the blonde locks of the Kryze family, but only Jénor had the family eyes of sea blue. Ami had chestnut brown like, Ben supposed, her biological mother. Ben had never met the woman but from what Satine described she had been a kind and caring woman, not at all deserving of death. But, everyone had their time and perhaps it was the poor woman's time. There was no real way of knowing.

"Entering low orbit."

The loud and metallic voice woke up those in the vicinity, including the three next to Ben. Jénor started whimpering from the strange noise, but was a groggy Satine bounced her a little bit, shushing her every now and then. The child seemed to respond well to Satine's comfort so the babe resorted to just a quivering lip. Her aunt turned to Ben.

"How much longer do you suppose we'll be on the transport?"

Contemplating the usual time it took to land, Ben responded that they had about fifteen more minutes of this before they could get off. The checkpoint would be a little sketchy getting passed, but they had been assured by Bail that their ID cards had been made full proof, and that they would be able to get in practically unnoticed. If he had to, Ben would use a mind-trick to make someone forget their faces, but they were pretty much unrecognizable from their previous looks. Satine had her hair cut short (a bob cut) and a few facial alterations like the added freckles and a small mole on her left cheekbone. It would throw off the facial recognition cameras. His own shaved beard and artificially grown out hair gave him a slightly younger appearance, plus they had removed the cleft in his chin for good measure. When the newlyweds had looked in the mirror, they could hardly recognize themselves. But since the children were unknown to the galaxy, no alterations had to be made to them. They were probably the safest children in all the worlds right now.

Fifteen minutes passed fairly quickly, and the four year old having slept through all of the new noise and clatter. When the metallic voice came back, telling them that they had started descending, there was a flurry of activity. People were packing up their belongings and heading to the entrance doors. Ben also packed up the bags that Bail had provided them with and stood up, Ami still asleep on his shoulder. He had no idea how that child could sleep so heavily. Her sister didn't seem to sleep so deeply which might become a problem if both were to go to bed at the same time and then have Ami's snoring wake the littler girl up. He glanced at Satine who was standing now too. She gave him a small smile, already answering his unspoken question.

"My brother was always a deep sleeper too," the smile was sad, Ben now realized as he now felt guilty for bringing up her dead family member. He really needed to stop walking into uncalled for conversations, as well as awkward ones at that.

They watched out the nearby window as the transport landed on the temperate planet. He and Satine had come here before at one point when they had been on the run from Mandalorian terrorists. They had played the role of a newlywed couple in a mountain village just off of the Soradian Pass. The pass wasn't too far from the capitol city that they would be living in now, so Ben hoped that no one would remember their faces, even if they were much older and facially altered the last they saw the planet. But, in his time, Ben had learned that people could be very perceptive even when they didn't look it.

The landscape was just a city right now, with tall stone buildings and pointy roofed houses. There was a bit of grass of the sides of the nearby roads and a few trees lined the walkways. The sky, however, was a strange cerulean blue. He had never seen the oceans on the planet before, but he had heard that no other planet could top the beauty of Esamer's seas. The exports of seafood and forest prey were excellent the last he had tasted it and there was no vegetation problems with the planet. It seemed like a logical choice to live on such a thriving planet. His only discontent with living there was that the economic was so rich that he would need a good paying job just to get by. Bail had set him up with a few job offers at local factories but none of them interested him enough to actually go forward with them. Maybe the longer they were there the more ideas he would come up with. All he had ever been was a Jedi, and that career choice didn't exactly give a lot of options for a change in occupation.

"Please stand clear of the doors."

The entryway opened with a swish, the sentient beings pushed their way out of the transport and into the open atmosphere. Ben and the other three with him waited until the way was clear enough for them to get through before descending from the ship's ramp. He took a deep breath of the clean and fresh air. It was glorious compared to the dank smelling ship.

He gripped the luggage in his free hand a little tighter. His nerves were going all over the place. He was actually doing it…he was starting a new life. One without the Jedi to tell him what to do. He had to make decisions on what to do for himself now. Technically Satine would be making the decisions too, but this would be the first time he was truly independant.

He was free.

**(*)(*)(*)**

"Aim just a little higher next time," his trainer instructed, "That was a bit too close for comfort," he expressed, his groin having been just missed by his client's foot. The man before him was getting stronger everyday but the trainer felt that he was pushing the limit far too much. Being paralyzed wasn't an easy thing for most people to go through, and getting back up on their feet was even harder, but this man had managed to do in six and a half months. No wonder people called him tough.

Anakin had been attending physical therapy sessions from the moment the doctor on Polis Massa had released him back in the Alliance's custody. He pushed himself past the limit everyday in an effort to get better. Mostly the only thing that gave him the drive to get better was the feeling of uselessness. He wasn't allowed to be out there fighting with the other rebels on the account of the "injuries he sustained in combat." He wasn't a cripple! He wasn't! But if he wanted people to treat him normally, as a brother in arms, then he would have to get back out there on the field. The only way he would be able to do that was if he regained the full use of him legs.

He had regained the use of them, but not their original strength. They would falter every now and then, making him stumble as he walked long distances, and then sometimes they would give out entirely and then someone would have to help him back up. It was embarrassing to him, but he had to push through it.

It was a tad bit more difficult with Obi-Wan not being there to help him. It reminded him of his time on Ast Kikorie. It hadn't been half bad, living on the distant planet out in the inner zuma, but it had been a bit lonely after he had given up on his social life after four years. He would come and go with women on the planet because nothing could really settle the yearning in his heart, though it was broken. There had been one girl there that had convinced herself that she had loved Anakin. But when it came time to tell her that he was a force-user, Anakin had backed out of the relationship, not willing to sacrifice this one secret. It had broken the poor girl's heart, but at least he had ended it before he had endangered both their lives. If the secret of his former occupation had gotten out, word would have come to Sidious that he was actually alive, and that would have done him nor anyone on the planet any good if the Empire were to invade the small planet.

At the moment, as his trainer made him aim kicks at him, Anakin focused on the area he wanted to hit. But as he went for the kick, he felt his legs give out, sending him to the floor. He let out a frustrated growl and hit the floor in his fist. The repetitive falling down was becoming quite annoying to him. He understood that there had to be a reason for all of this happening, but the Force wasn't responding to any of his meditation advances so he knew nothing of what he was supposed to do. Maybe he had to just stop relying on the Force to tell him everything.

"Sir, I think that might be enough therapy for today," the trainer reached a hand out to Anakin who just stared at it, "Might I suggest a few hours in the bacta tank tonight?" this frustrated the former Jedi even more. If he were to be put back in the bacta tank, and it be put on his medical history, he would be even farther behind in the Alliance's books to be getting out on the field. He didn't have time to be resting all the time. Everyday more and more wounded rebels came back, half of their squads dead. He couldn't let more people die then there already was. If he could take Sidious down now, then they could avoid a lot more bloodshed in the end result. Anakin had never been through a war, but from the looks on former veteran faces, it was pleasant in the long run. He had nightmares himself about his near death experience, but from the crying and screams down the halls outside his room, his dreams were nothing compared to what some went through.

He shook his head at the trainer, "You can go if you want," he took a few deep breaths to calm his lungs, "I'm going to spend a bit more time in here."

The train was about to protest, but thought better on it. He headed for the door, but then glanced back at his client, "Don't work yourself too hard," he told the young man, "I've seen many warriors sustain injuries a lot less than yours. They strained their limits farther than they should have. They walked away from my tutelage with more injuries than what they had come with. If you really want to get back out there as bad as you do, don't push yourself so hard that your wounds become permanent. Injuries heal in time," he said quietly, "But waiting for them to heal requires patience and persistence."

The trainer left without another word, hoping something he said caught the young man's attention. It didn't, really, because Anakin wasn't listening at all. He was to caught up in his own frustration to care about anything going on around him. That was a bad thing, to not be aware of his surroundings , but unless the base was attacked within the next few minutes...no, he wasn't in any danger at all. So far, the natives on Yavin IV were opening them with open arms and hadn't reported them to the Empire in the five days that they had been there. The Alliance was allowed a long respite from worry for the time being. The tense atmosphere in the base on the first day there had been lessened greatly since everyone was now getting used to the idea of being a hidden operation. The tenseness only started back up again when the wounded were brought back which continued to annoy Anakin.

He sighed to himself and used the nearby wall to help his shaky legs stand up. After her got himself situated on the nearby bench, he began unwinding the gauze that his trainer made him wear when they were using the hard dummies. One false move and then his hands would be a bloody mess for a few days. Falling backwards from progress was not an option for Anakin. He sighed when he finished his hands. They weren't bloody, but they sure were bruised from the night before. He hadn't been able to sleep from all the night terrors so he had come down here and started taking out his energy on one of the punching bags. It was an old-fashioned device, but it was what the Alliance could afford right now. He was grateful either way for the distraction from his dreams. They weren't even of his fight with his clone. It was his mother again. Seeing her fade away in his arms over and over, thinking she was dead and then losing control over his emotions, killing all of those Tuskens...

Anakin idly started unwinding the gauze on his feet, his thoughts too caught up elsewhere to notice even more bruising on his feet. Pounding out his anger had helped somewhat last night, but what happened _after_ was what bothered him. Somewhere during his rampage he had split open his knuckles and they had started to bleed profusely. After he had tried to bandage them up- but to no avail- he had decided to go down to the healers wing and get them patched up properly. He didn't like asking for help with such a minor thing, but he had no idea what he was doing so help was the better option instead of just making a mess of everything.

The healers wing was where Padme worked. Since it had been the middle of the night, Anakin had figured she had gone to bed some hours ago, but fate had never been kind to him. It just so happened that she was up too, helping turn down bed covers for a new arrival of wounded that would be shipping in the next morning. He had been trying to avoid her for a while now, keeping his distance as he tried to not make their friendship more awkward than it had been before. But that encounter wasn't any more avoidable than it had been five years ago. Basically what had gone down was that they had sat in uncomfortable silence until she was finished patching up his hands. A few thank-yous and goodbyes were exchanged before he left and that was it.

Completely irritating.

To him at least, anyway. he didn't really to confront Padme at this point. Yeah they weren't screaming or yelling at each other about hurt feelings anymore, but the heartache was still there for Anakin and he didn't believe that it would ever really go away. It saddened him with how far their friendship had fallen since their first meeting when he was nine. It surprised him even more so with how much more beautiful she grew every time he saw her...wait. Stop for a second. Take a step back. That would be forbidden territory to walk into right now. Yeah, okay, he still wasn't over the initial attraction he felt for her but that didn't give him any reason to go and get sidetracked into oblivion.

This thinking was starting to give him a headache.

**(*)(*)(*)**

"He should be ready to be released in about a week, my lord Emperor."

Sidous looked on from behind the one-way glass wall in the medical facility. Lord Vader lay strapped the table in the room beyond, completely unconscious. His body was marred greatly, burn scars covering almost every inch of his body. The skin could have been regrown if they had put Vader in a clone tube again but Sidious had wanted his current apprentice to see the damage that had been done to him by Skywalker.

Unfortunately, a lung transplant had to happen for the young sith to breathe on his own. But now that all of the surgeries were done, and the wounds now closed, Vader was ready to really begin his journey as a sith. Sidious knew that Vader would most likely hate him for not covering up the scars, and then there was the fact that the original Skywalker wasn't dead. An angry apprentice was a dangerous thing to have, but that was what the sith revolved around. They were the opposite of the Jedi, and Sidious intended to keep it that way. Anakin Skywalker would die by a sith's hand one day...it was just a matter of finding him.


	3. Chapter 2

_The Deserter: Book 2_

**PLEASE READ ENTIRE NOTE:**

**So, if you read the latest author's note in Book 1, you would know already that this book is going on Hiatus and then eventually deleted because I am doing a rewrite of book 1. I'm going to be putting all of the books into one story for an easier read. I am posting this chapter because near the end it's going to give you a new look at what to really expect in Book 2 once I start it up again in the Revised Edition. **

**So,**

**Enjoy! :)**

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><p><strong>-Chapter 2- <strong>

The fact that Bariss Offee was standing right in front of Ahsoka was enough to drive the Torguta up the wall. Or tree, seeing as there were no walls in the vicinity. Ahsoka just looked at the old master beside her with an incredulous look before stalking off, away from the tense reunion. This wasn't supposed to happen like this. Bariss was supposed to be in prison, or other...the former padawan hadn't really stuck around to find out.

"Anger you should not feel, young Tano," Yoda told her as he approached from behind the kneeling Togruta. Ahsoka had found some quiet solace next to the murky water, away from Bariss. As she knelt there, half listening to Yoda's rumunitions, she was blinded by the fury she felt towards the other young woman there. She frowned at the obvious attempt Master Yoda had made at smoothing her and Bariss' former friendship over. The only problem with that was that was no friendship between the two of them anymore. She didn't know how Bariss felt about the situation, but Ahsoka knew how she herself felt. Unacceptiing.

"Forget it, Master," she told Yoda who looked at her curiously, "There's nothing Bariss can do to atone for her mistakes. Unless she can go back into and fix what she did, there's no use in trying to rectify them now. What's done is done, and I was hurt in the process. I _never _want to speak to or see Bariss ever again."

Because Ahsoka was so consumed by her own thoughts, she didn't sense that the young mirialan was behind one of the trees. When she did finally notice, it was too late. Not that she cared what she said about her former friend, it was B\what Bariss deserved for what she done to Ahsoka. The former Jedi padawans stared at each other's faces once the mirialan came out from her hiding spot.

Bariss was no longer dressed in her traditional clothing that she had worn at the temple. The headdress was still there, a little tattered though. A black jumpsuit was what she wore now, along with a sliver belt that her lightsaber was clipped to. Brown military boots were on her feet, as well as some concealed weapons inside them most likely.

"I have no desire to do either to you too Ahsoka," Bariss told her, her voice low, "I was just as surprised when I saw you here too. The only reason I'm here is because Master Yoda has agreed to finish my training. I assume that is your reasoning also. I'm willing to put aside old grudges if you are too, for our training."

Ahsoka shook her head in exasperation. It was completely unbelievable that Bariss would even think she would do such a thing. She wouldn't stand for this. She glared at Bariss, marching over to the other woman, "If you even _think _ that it's going to be that easy to gain my forgiveness, you're even more stupid than I thought," the Togruta brushed past Bariss, annoyed as all get out.

"I'm _not_ looking for your forgiveness, Ahsoka," the mirialan told her, "I'm only here for the training."

Not even turning to look at her, Ahsoka answered, "If training is all that matters to you, then you can do it by yourself. I'm leaving," she turned to look at their little green friend, "I'm sorry, Master Yoda, but I can't handle this right now. I know my life is in danger but I'm willing to risk that if it means getting away from certain..." her eyes flicked to Bariss for half a second, "...unpleasantness." She lifted her wrist to her mouth, turning on her commlink, "Lux, Roy, get back to the ship. We're leaving."

**(*)**

"_Lux, Roy, get back to the ship. We're leaving."_

That was all the two men heard before the link went silent. Ahsoka seemed in a hurry to leave, so the two suspected some sort of danger. They hurried back to the main camp, surprised to see a second ship there when they arrived. What surprised the co-pilot even more was that there was another really pretty woman standing not too far away from it. The rich olive skin and strange black dots sprinkled across her nose was a bit different, but the _rest _of her? Whoa...

While Roy stood by a gaped at the mirialan in the tight fitting jumpsuit, Lux climbed aboard the ship and found the former padawan in the cockpit. It was a strange request from her to leave _now _since they had been on Dagobah a total of six months with no communication from the outside worlds. He watched the Togruta female scurry about the enclosed room, pressing buttons and checking panels, preparing the ship to leave.

"I don't understand why it is you want to leave so soon," he said to her, she only paused to glance at him before brushing past the Onderonian. He followed her to the medical bay where she checked all of the supplies and life-support, "I mean, I thought you wanted to stay here- for a while anyway." She didn't even pause this time as she went to the main hall where the ramp was. She opened a panel above the ramps controls and checked over the food rations they had left, counting it in her head. This was starting to annoy Lux so he grabbed her back the shoulder and swung her around to face him. Only he didn't realize that their proximity was so close, so when she was turned around they were only about an inch away from each other's faces.

Lux cleared his throat and then took a step back. It only took him a second to regain his composure and carry on with his questioning, "You have to tell me what's going on, Ahsoka. What's got you so up in a tizzy that we have to leave so quickly?"

"Look, Lux," she told him shortly, her temper on edge, "I can't stand it here anymore. Okay? I just can't. And some things are just better left alone." She went back to the cockpit. He rolled his eyes at her touchiness but followed her anyway.

"This is about the newcomer, isn't it?" his words froze her hurried pace, "You weren't acting like this before she came here. Now, have I ever kept anything hidden from you?"

Yes. The fact that he had taken her to Carlaac without telling her his plan. That counted as hiding things from her. She turned around to look him in the eye. She crossed her arms and raised one of her brow markings. He clued in on the one time.

"Okay, fine, there was that _one_ time. But any other time I have been completely open and honest with you. You can trust my judgement on this matter if a second opinion is what you need. Now tell me what in this galaxy is going on with you, Ahsoka."

She glared at him, "You really wanna know?" he nodded, "gee, maybe is was because that _lady_ out there _framed_ for a crime I. DIDN'T. COMMIT!" she turned to the side and stared out the port, staring at Bariss with hatred as the mirialan spoke with Roy,"Her action got me kicked out of the order and almost sentenced to death. It was only because of the Force that I got out of being wrongly convicted of murder. She isn't even sorry that she did it," she turned to gauge Lux's reaction who was completely taken aback, "You know what's the worst thing about all of that? We were _friends_ before the incident. _Best _friends."

Ahsoka was on the verge of tears now, but she held them back for the sake of her dignity. She sat down on one the seats there and held her arms close, "Her betrayal went deeper than it would have gone had we not known each other. But to know that I trusted someone like her...to know that what she did made _no one_ trust me? It takes a lot from you. Before I was a Jedi, Lux, I was abandoned in a temple on Shili. I was two years old. I was near starving to death when Master Plo Koon found me and brought me to the temple."

She looks water-eyed at Lux, "But what consumed my parents to leave me I can never figure out. I didn't know them, so it doesn't hurt so much. But Bariss and I...we knew each other inside and out. Attachments weren't allowed by the Jedi, but we were practically sisters...family even," she scowled and stood up again, "But it seems no matter where I go...abandonment and betrayal follow in my footsteps."

Shocked to the core, Lux looked on sadly at the hurting Togruta, "Ahsoka, I-" she raised her hand to silence him.

"Save the sympathy for someone who actually cares, Lux Bonteri," she told him coldly, "You don't understand anything I've been through, let alone enough of it to comfort someone about it."

He rethinks his words and sighs, "You're right, I don't understand abandonment. But I _do_ understand hurt and betrayal. I loved my father very much, and I _know_ he loved me. But when he died, my world was broken and the hard realities of this galaxy sunk in. And then my mother was killed...by the hands of the man we admired _no less_. You know that, so you should _understand_ what betrayal feels like. Dooku was once a man we supported highly, us Onderonians. But when he showed his true colors to us, the betrayal hurt a lot."

Ahsoka sighed, regretting her anger towards the man next to her, "We've both lost much, that much is clear. But how are we going to move forward from this?" that was her question for him. Lux needed only a moment to think before the solution was clear.

"Your parents." This confused Ahsoka greatly.

"What?"

"You said that you don't know the reason that you were ab- nh, left in that temple," he explained to her, "But what if we were to, I don't know, _go_ to Shili and set the facts straight?" she contemplates things but comes up short.

"But what if they're dead, or died a long time ago? The trip would be for nothing."

"Then we would know that they didn't leave you on purpose. Closure is what this is going to bring you," Lux smiled at her sarcastically, "But we're only going if we drop Mr Corelian back at the base," he nodded to Roy out the viewport who was still flirting with Bariss. Ahsoka agreed immediately, wanting to get away from there as fast as possible. Lux lifted a hand to her and she hesitantly took it, unsure of what he was about to do. What he did do was a very un-Bonteri kind of thing to do. Very straightforward. He enveloped her in a hug, careful of her lekku.

"We'll find the answers, 'Soka" he told her affectionately. She sighed inaudibly and relaxed in their embrace, enjoying the feeling of his arms wrapped around her. She stepped back a moment later, a grateful smile gracing her features.

"Thank you, Lux," she shrugged then, "We make a better team, anyway."

* * *

><p><strong>So, there you have it. I don't have much more to say down here at the bottom, except for that I sincerely hope that you will read the new book :) The first chapter is mainly just an explanation with what Anakin did in his time away, but then it transitions into his talk with Qui-Gon's spirit. :)<strong>

**Till Then,**

**KG1  
><strong>


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